Chapter: Madison County

Do you believe community members have an important voice in the conversation about Madison County’s future?

The Madison County KFTC Chapter is a place where you, a member of this community, can work with others on issues we care about. Over the past year our members have worked together to promote clean energy at the local level, register and educate voters, support a Fairness ordinance in Berea, and much more. We have more than 500 members of various ages and backgrounds, and we welcome new folks.

Our monthly meeting is a great opportunity to learn what we’re up to, express your ideas and find a way to get involved.

Recent Activities

The forecast is looking superb for the annual Madison County KFTC Friend-Raiser set for tomorrow, Saturday, September 14, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at HomeGrown Hideaways (500 Floyd Branch Rd., Berea). This free, family-friendly event will feature live music from Carla Gover, tasty food, a great silent auction, and an evening of good fun all to celebrate and support KFTC’s work. The Friend-Raiser has been the main fundraising event for the Madison County chapter in years past, and members have been working hard to make sure this year is as great as ever.

Pie. Diversity. Relationships. Students. Growth. Beards. This might not seem like typical conversation fodder for a KFTC chapter meeting, but these topics served as just some of the highlights for the Madison County KFTC annual chapter meeting, held the evening of June 24.

Members spent the first half of the meeting conducting necessary business, including petitioning to remain a chapter, electing people to the Steering Committee and Executive Committee, and discussing KFTC’s platform, which they felt should be updated to better address concerns about the transportation of fossil fuels and fossil fuel by-products. The chapter also took time to celebrate work they’ve done so far this year, having already raised $1,600 in chapter fundraising, but held off on making new goals, saving that instead for the July chapter meeting when there is more time for discussion.

The format of the input meetings is fairly straightforward. It's a 60 minute discussion facilitated by the Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. There is some context at the beginning and some recognition of county clerks' office representatives.

But mostly, the event is focused on a series of questions like "What are your thoughts about our current voter registration process?" "18 states offer online voter registration. Should we try to move in that direction?" "What is your election day experience like?" and "32 states allow early voting. Should we allow no-excuse early voting in Kentucky too?"

The Madison County chapter had a good, thoughtful chapter meeting this past Monday, May 20, in the beautiful Appalachian Center gallery at Berea College.

After a great icebreaker, Meta Mendel-Reyes facilitated an exercise from Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” Everyone looked at a list of a couple dozen statements having to do with everyday life and checked off the ones they felt were true for them. This led to a discussion of how people felt about these statements and what they found surprising.